Get Free News Apps For iOS And macOS

Color me a current events junkie. I like news. I follow news. From left to right and places in between, I pay attention to the news in its many forms, colors, and sources.

That means I have favorite news apps for macOS and iOS. Despite a growing number of news sources as well as easy and free access to what goes on in the world, far too many people these days get their news from Facebook, alt-right publications online, and believe that the Weekly World News tabloid is The World’s Only Reliable News (the one from Men In Black). Good news sources are available. Here is what I use.

Free News

Most news sources these days are free. Yes, there is plenty of regurgitation in newspapers, and on radio and TV news. News from online has even more variety, so let me start there. My recommendation to anyone who wants good news sources is to stay diverse and not get caught up in an echo chamber of misrepresented news.

For iPhone and iPad, news sources are everywhere so choose your poison carefully. Apple’s own News application is an excellent source for variety, easily scanned and with a measure of customization. Even Google’s new News app is a good choice. For similar reasons I recommend Flipboard. There is a version Flipboard for Safari users on the Mac. What you get either way is quick and easy access to a variety of news, perspective, and sources.

I keep CNN and Fox News on my iPhone and iPad, along with half a dozen others that suit my current events junkie habit. But, it’s one thing to flip through Apple’s News application or the Flipboard app, and something else to organize, categorize, and maintain a list of articles to be read at a more appropriate time.

For that I use both Pocket and Instapaper; two popular read later applications. iOS extensions, specifically the Share button, make it drop dead easy to roll through Flipboard or the News app for headlines, then save the article in other applications or share with friends, family, or co-workers with little more than a tap.

I use Pocket for personal reading and Instapaper for business articles and news.

What about the Mac? Instapaper lives as a Safari extension with the Share button option. There’s also a Pocket app on the Mac App Store which works with the Share extension option. After devoting some time and effort to various RSS news readers I ended up with News Explorer because it synchronizes RSS subscriptions between Mac, iPhone, iPad, and even Apple TV.

Of the aforementioned news applications, only News Explorer comes with a price tag; one which I consider nominal considering the amount of time it saves. However, if you’re on a budget and both News and Flipboard, plus Instapaper and Pocket work for you, great. Open the Mac App Store and search for “rss” and you’ll get a few dozen worthy RSS readers, most of which work the same way, some of which are free to almost free, and others which have worthy iOS counterparts.

The world circa 2018 is awash in news; fake to factual and everywhere in between, so now more than ever you need a variety of options to give you a more clear picture of what is happening on planet earth because reality varies outside of Facebook.

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About Jack Miller

I work for a US technology company in Paris, France and switched from Windows PCs to the Mac 20 years ago. My wife said it would improve our marriage, give us more friends, and reduce stress. I guess that two out of three isn't bad. Read more of my articles here.